Bentley out at Byrnes...

Heading to the college ranks. Guess it wasn't fun moving up the Big 16 in SC and getting it handed to you twice by Gaffney. As I sit here, the name of the college that he's going to has left my mind. I've heard he's going to make some good scratch.

 

presbyterian

 

Byrnes stays in family, names Miller new coach
JASON GILMER, Staff Writer
Published January 25, 2007

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Photo: ALEX C. HICKS JR.
Chris Miller is the new head football coach at Byrnes High School.
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DUNCAN -- One night was all it took for Chris Miller to regain that feeling -- the wondrous sensation of being a head football coach.

Not a nauseous feeling, though, but one of excitement.

"It's a feeling that you'd have to be in this position to feel it. It's something I've had in me before," Miller said Wednesday afternoon. "Being a head coach and having everything on you, your eyes are very bright in the morning at 5, ready to go. You go to bed wide-eyed and you wake up wide-eyed. That feeling is back again and I'm excited about it and ready to go."

Miller was named the head coach at Byrnes High School Wednesday morning, a week after Bobby Bentley left the program following 12 seasons and four state championships to take the same position at Presbyterian College.

Though Bentley served as the athletic director at the school, Miller won't have that title. The school is still working to fill that position.

"He has (head coaching) experience. He's been here long enough to know what is expected at Byrnes High School and to know how the system works," interim athletic director Fred Coan said. "I just think it's a great fit and it's great for our school, our community and our kids."

With his relationship with players, knowledge of the program, intensity on the field and three seasons as associate head coach and defensive coordinator, Miller was an obvious choice to lead the Rebels.

"I'm real happy with the choice. I'm glad they kept it in-house," safety Justin Bright said. "I think it will keep the tradition going and keep the program going. Nobody can replace Coach Bentley, but he can definitely keep it going."

"It's good. I think he'll be just as good as Coach B," quarterback Trent Bailey said. "He's just a defensive mind instead of an offensive mind. It's going to be good. He's got good leadership skills and a lot of intensity."

Though he has a defensive background, Miller said he learned from his six-year stint as a head coach at Broome in the '90s. He said he'd be more hands-on will all aspects of the job, including the offense.

Changing things, though, isn't something Miller plans to do. Football at Byrnes doesn't simply involve four grades of students, but the whole community. From the little league program that runs a scaled-down offense to the seventh-graders who ride buses to Byrnes to lift weights, Miller said he wants to keep things running the same.

"The way the program is set up, it will run by itself, whether all the coaches leave or all the coaches stay. I don't want to change anything," Miller said. "I think my personality and Bobby's is the only thing that will change. I told the kids that my face gets a little redder than his and maybe that's the only thing that will change."

Taking over for someone like Bentley, who guided Byrnes to a state-record four-straight state titles, was certainly a concern.

As is what will happen without Bentley or former quarterback Brian Lane (who, on Monday night, accepted the head coaching job at South Florence) calling offensive plays.

"We even chuckled before it was even thought about, saying 'Man, I'd hate to be the one to take over when Bobby leaves,'" Miller said. "When reality hit, I was real excited about doing it. The pressure is going to be there wherever you go. I know the pressure is here because we win. The pressure to win is everywhere."

"That's what everyone thinks -- that we'll just fall off. That's not going to happen. We'll keep rolling," defensive lineman Everette Dawkins said. "We wanted to keep it inside. Everyone on the team was happy when they announced it."

Jason Gilmer can be reached at 562-7247 or [email protected].


More Information
The Chris Miller File
Age: 49
Schooling: graduate of Wade Hampton High School and Newberry College
Coaching experience: Eight years as an assistant at Byrnes (the last three as defensive coordinator and associate head coach), 10 years at Broome, six years at Spartanburg
Head coaching record: 36-32 in six years at Broome. While at Broome, his team won a region championship in 1993 and he was named the Herald-Journal Coach of the Year.
Family: He and wife Gina have two kids -- son Cameron and daughter Braydon.